Join the Office of Sustainability Integration for an information session about our newest program, the Sustainability Solutions Lab. The SSL is an opportunity for students to address sustainability challenges on our campus. The work begins in a Winter Term internship--come find out more!

Brooke’s life has been one of adventure and wilderness exploration. His conservation career spans thirty years, most recently with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and he has an MBA in sustainable business. Brooke is a freelance journalist with four books, including Halflives: Reconciling Work and Wildness, and dozens of articles. His most recent work, Open Midnight, documents Brooke’s exploration of places where the outer and inner wilderness meet. He and his wife, writer Terry Tempest Williams, and their dog, Winslow, split their time between Castle Valley, Utah, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Sponsored by Franklin Environmental Center, Department of English and American Literatures, Creative Writing Program and Program in Environmental Studies

Rachelle Gould, Assistant Professor, University of Vermont, Environmental Program, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources

Cultural ecosystem services (and more generally, socio-cultural values related to ecosystems) are increasingly recognized as a critical component of conservation assessment and practice. This class of services is, however, notoriously thorny and difficult to characterize. Researchers continue to innovate ways to characterize these difficult-to-measure phenomena; the first half of this talk will summarize those current efforts and potential next steps (spoiler alert: there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question in the title!). The second half of the talk will focus on one of Dr. Gould’s current projects: the way that Cultural Ecosystem Services are at play in debates about solar panel siting in Vermont.

Much was accomplished in the first 40 years of modern environmental policy, especially in light of how ineffectual pollution abatement was in the 1960s. However, a fundamental timidity still characterizes many American environmental regulations. Whether it’s pollution abatement or habitat conservation planning, American environmental policy rarely requires or aggressively encourages thorough transformations in the activities that cause environmental damage. Instead, American environmental regulators commonly do their level best to preserve, intact, how we produce energy, use land, manufacture goods, build structures and move ourselves around–provided the worst abuses of power are mitigated, reduced or contained.

After briefly reviewing the shortcomings of contemporary American environmental regulation, I will use paper recycling as an example of under-performing policy approaches. Although we think we have come a long way, paper recycling is largely treated as waste management, not as an important source of industrial feedstock. Consequently, the American paper industry has a much larger environmental footprint than need be, and misses opportunities for balance-of-trade, labor, energy and pollution prevention gains

Urban agriculture is increasingly considered an important part of creating just and sustainable cities. Yet the benefits that many people attribute to urban agriculture— fresh food, green space, educational opportunities—can mask structural inequities, thereby making political transformation harder to achieve. Realizing social and environmental justice requires moving beyond food production to address deeper issues such as structural racism, gender inequity, and economic disparities. Beyond the Kale argues that urban agricultural projects focused explicitly on dismantling oppressive systems have the greatest potential to achieve substantive social change. Through in-depth interviews and public forums with some of New York City’s most prominent urban agriculture activists and supporters, Kristin Reynolds and Nevin Cohen illustrate how some urban farmers and gardeners not only grow healthy food for their communities but also use their activities and spaces to disrupt the dynamics of power and privilege that perpetuate inequity. Addressing a significant gap in the urban agriculture literature, Beyond the Kale prioritizes the voices of people of color and women—activists and leaders whose strategies have often been underrepresented within the urban agriculture movement—and it examines the roles of scholarship in advancing social justice initiatives.

Jennifer Hadden, Assistant Professor, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland

What explains why some NGOs adopt protest tactics while others do not? Hadden argues that the tactical choices of climate change NGOs are shaped by their embeddedness in transnational advocacy networks. Specifically, she finds that NGOs are more likely to adopt protest tactics when adjacent organizations – those with whom they have direct ties – have already done so. Qualitative evidence also shows that NGOs are affected by relational pressure from their peers, altering their perception of costs and benefits. These findings enhance our understanding of how networks influence the behavior of actors and offer insight into the relational processes that generate protest in global politics.

The field of historical marine ecology developed from the fundamental observation that marine ecosystems had been changed by human actions long before scientists began to study them. This talk will give examples of my own historical ecology research, with a focus on in coral reef ecosystems, and ways in which knowledge of past ecosystems can be applied toward conservation.

The second session of Middlebury's Just Transition Climate Justice Symposium will feature a panel on Resistance to Climate Change both Local and Abroad: from Indigenous land rights to justice in the city. Come by to listen to panelists Anthony Rogers Wright (Policy and Organizing Director, Environmental Action), Nicholas Reo (Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Native American Studies, Dartmouth College), Gina Cosentino (Social Development Specialist, World Bank), and Erica Morrell (Mellon C3 Postdoctoral Fellow in Sociology, Middlebury College) speak on climate justice and current affairs. A keynote address given by Winona LaDuke of Honor the Earth (co-sponsored by the GSFS department) will be held the following week.

90% of mistakes can be prevented with an efficient design. This workshop will give you an understanding of different ways to view the landscape and how the site can influence a successful design. We will discuss permaculture principles and how to apply them to this process, while also providing case studies of the effectiveness of ecological design.

In this talk, Erica explains how 21st century food localization in Detroit transformed from a white-led movement based in cultures of science to a black-led movement favoring experience—and what this means for our notions of knowledge, power, and environmental justice more broadly.

What are our understandings of and reaction to outliers? From science to the humanities, this panel will explore the realm of the peculiar. We will discuss variability (real, measured, and imagined), eccentric individuals, and paradigm-breaking insight.

This talk will examine the role of tribal governments as participants in the nation’s regime of environmental federalism. In the process, we’ll examine instances where environmentalism clashes with economic development in Indian Country.

Join members of the Green Panther Challenge at the women's ice hockey game Friday night to learn how to properly sort waste into landfill, recycling and compost. Our goal is to perfectly sort everything generated at the game!

John Elder, Professor Emeritus of English and Environmental Studies at Middlebury College

This talk will explore the timeliness of the myth of Persephone in our era of global warming, and will also reflect more broadly about how the Western tradition's deep cultural resources may be brought into play at this moment of ecological and spiritual crisis.

For Native American Heritage Month this November, student group Women of Color has organized a series in honor of Standing Rock and NoDAPL. Join them at one (or both!) of their events on November 28th and 29th. They will be fundraising for Standing Rock, so please bring cash to donate. If you know anyone who'd like to donate but can't make it to the event(s), they should contact Sandra at sandral@middlebury.edu.

Human behavior plays a key role in whether energy efficient equipment is installed and how much energy is used in a given home or office. Yet, for many reasons, people often don’t make the most energy efficient choices. Other fields such as public health face similar challenges, and it turns out that some of the same techniques that can help someone quit smoking or lose weight can also encourage them to use energy more efficiently. This presentation by Kira Ashby '05, Senior Program Manager, Behavior, Consortium for Energy Efficiency, will provide an overview of some of the behavior-based projects that energy efficiency program administrators have undertaken through the Consortium for Energy Efficiency. The talk will also touch on some social science techniques that are particularly applicable to energy usage behaviors and will describe some of the unique challenges and opportunities of motivating behavior change in the energy efficiency arena.

The documentary film American Outrage will be screened at 7:00p followed by a brief lecture and discussion on food and water security with Professor Molly Anderson. Co-sponsored by Chellis House, ISO, and FAM.

Interested in a career in Renewables, Energy Efficiency or Energy Policy to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels? Does Climate Change keep you up at night? Middlebury alumni working in the Energy Industry will be on campus to talk about their career paths, the mission and goals of their organization and their particular position and program.

Plan to attend one or both events, meet these alumni and gather information on:

How the different areas of the industry (energy efficiency and behavior, renewables, international and domestic policy) intersect around a common goal, andWhere the opportunities are for Middlebury graduates in Vermont and beyond

Cosponsored by Center for Careers and Internships, Franklin Environmental Center, Program in Environmental Studies

All of the projects for this semester’s environmental studies senior seminar deal with overlapping facets of Vermont’s Dairy Industry. Vermont continues to produce 63% of all the milk in New England, between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs are tied to the dairy industry in Vermont, and over 80% of Vermont’s farmland is devoted to dairy and the crops grown for dairy feed (this represents 900,000 acres or 15% of Vermont). Addison County (where we are located) represents the largest percentage of milk sales statewide. While Vermont dairy is an extremely important economic force and an undeniable part of the state’s cultural identity, it is not without challenges. These include water quality challenges, intensive energy use & high energy prices, complex labor and immigration issues, generational farm transitions, and volatile milk prices. The four projects for this seminar will explore each of these pressing issues with partners from UVM-Extension, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Migrant Justice, and Green Mountain Power. For more details on the projects and our partners, click here.

As the use of perpetual conservation easements to protect private property continues to grow in popularity, so grow the challenges and opportunities associated with these perpetually binding promises. Today’s conservation community faces significant challenges to the durability and flexibility of perpetual conservation easements as a result of changing conditions, landscapes, climate, and public interests. Conservationists will need to look to new frontiers for answers and opportunities to respond to these changes and challenges, and to shape our protected landscapes going forward.

During this talk Ted will be discussing his most recent book America’s Snake: The Rise and Fall of the Timber Rattlesnake. This is a book about love—but also about fear, danger, and a long history of misunderstanding. It tells the story of the much-maligned timber rattlesnake, one of the most iconic animals in the American landscape, feared and hunted relentlessly since Pilgrim times and now the focus of sustained—and often contentious—conservation efforts on the part of both working scientists and obsessed, dedicated amateurs.

Scientific explanations of global warming are important sources of information, but the world faith community is also providing inspiration to address its impacts on the planet, the poor, and future generations as a moral issue. Pope Francis has recently called pollution a sin and welcomed non-religious scientists as "precious allies" in the struggle to care for Creation. In that role of "precious ally" Curt Stager will explore some of the long-term effects of global warming and our place in nature from a scientific perspective, and also show how the pope's encyclical reinforces the science with a call for better stewardship of the planet and its inhabitants.

The lecture will showcase innovative policy and technological measures in Japan’s planned transition to a low-carbon, sustainable society, focusing on 2 key initiatives: The Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City, near Tokyo, and the vision for a hydrogen economy. He will briefly discuss Fukushima’s impact on energy policy and CO2 emissions.

Dr. Trencher holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability Science from the University of Tokyo and an M.A. in Environmental Studies from Sophia University. His current interests include energy efficiency and retrofitting policies for existing buildings and smart city initiatives in Japan and China.

The Japanese Studies Department, the East Asian Studies Program, the Environmental Studies Program, the Franklin Environmental Center and the Japanese Club.

Meet on the front porch of the Franklin Environmental Center (FEC) for the very popular Campus Tree Tour led by passionate Middlebury horticulturalist and tree expert Tim Parsons. This year, FEC is focusing on the theme Urban Innovations, Sustainable Solutions, which will include exploring connections between urban and rural. As part of the tour, Tim will explain why he manages our rural Vermont campus as an urban forest. Stick around after the tour for a tree planting, complete with hot cider and fresh local donuts. Bring your willingness to learn about and to get a little dirty.

The Fire Inside is a 35-minute documentary that asks provocative questions and offers thoughtful perspectives on our relationship to the natural world and the ecological crises we face today. What is nature? And what is the human experience of that world? In the everyday push of our modern lives what connections have been lost and what remain? This film follows a small, diverse group on a contemplative retreat as they explore the wildness about them and the passion for place within.

After the screening, a panel discussion will take place with Middlebury faculty members Rebecca Kneale Gould, Marc Lapin and Michelle McCauley and Tim Lilburn, a faculty member from University of Victoria.

Teresa Mares, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Vermont

This talk examines household food access among Latino/a dairy workers in Vermont, the majority of whom have migrated in recent years from central and southern Mexico. As a border state with an active presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, many of the same fears, anxieties, and dangers that are connected to the southern border are reproduced in the state of Vermont; with significant consequences for food security, diet-related health, and the overall well-being of migrant workers.

Johannes Urpelainen, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Columbia University

For centuries, fossil fuels have played a central role in human development and the growth of the industrial society. Coal, oil, and natural gas have fueled the world economy, enabling rapid industrialization. However, fossil fuels carry a high environmental cost. In less than a decade, activism against the fossil fuel industry has exploded both in the United States and elsewhere.

Matthew C. Nisbet, Associate Professor of Communication at Northeastern University

Nisbet reviews research insights and evidence-based strategies that experts and advocates can use to effectively communicate with the public and policymakers about climate change and energy-related issues.

Amy Frazier, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University

Forest fragmentation is an on-going threat in forest communities, especially in the Eastern U.S. where the prevailing pattern of dispersed, low intensity development penetrates intact forest, increasing the amount of wildland urban interface (WUI).

In this Fall’s core faculty colloquium, we will examine the concept of “safety” from a number of perspectives. How do we translate the abstract concept of safety into actual, on-the-ground policy? How helpful are broadly accepted parameters (such as EPA limits) if these limits have more to do with what is technically "achievable" than with what is actually healthy? And is safety for me the same as safety for you? How do concepts of "environmental safety" get shaped and mitigated by geography, race, class, gender and culture?

What do we do when we walk into a meadow or forest? Let’s suppose we are there for no particular purpose. We aren’t doing research, looking for food or rushing to an appointment. Though we are moving, we are idle, without intention. This is a crucially important moment – for us and for the world we move through.

In this talk Professor Berazneva will present several of her projects that study soil and forest resources. In one we investigate the effects of changes in agricultural practices on maize yields and soil carbon sequestration in Kenya; and in the other, we examine the links between deforestation, malaria, and child health in Nigeria.

The students in Michael Sheridan's SOAN 211 Human Ecology will present their research projects as posters.

Topics include:

Fisheries policy in the South PacificGuatemala coffee cooperativesIndigenous people and conservation in CameroonElves, fairies, and ecology in IcelandMountaineering, Sherpas, and ecology in NepalPastoralism and climate change in MongoliaThe Sarvodaya spiritual ecology movement in Sri LankaVegetarianism as a cultural systemLakota Sioux political ecology….. and more

Jason Scorse, Associate Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, will talk about how environmental and health policy professionals are beginning to use the profound insights of behavior design to help nudge people to healthier and more sustainable food choices, because it turns out that many of the older theories of change don't fully account for human psychology and sociology. What makes people actually change their behavior is both more complex and at the same time simpler than many people think. Given that food choice is the single greatest determinant of greenhouse gases and that medical costs are the major driver of long-run government debt, getting to people to eat healthier should be a priority; it is truly the silver bullet we have been waiting for. Scorse serves as Director for Center for the Blue Economy and Program Chair of International Environmental Policy at the Institute.

This International and Global Studies Colloquium presentation will be given by Sandra Carletti, professor of Italian at Middlebury. Food has played an important role in shaping Italian identity, but was Italian food Italian before there was an Italy? In 1891, thirty years after the official unification of Italy, Emilia-Romagna's native Pellegrino Artusi published La Scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well). Professor Carletti will discuss how this iconic, 600-pages cookbook became a turning point in the history of Italian cooking, establishing a national culinary canon and a common culinary language for the newly unified country. Lunch is free for current Middlebury College students/faculty/staff; suggested $5 donation for others; RSVP by 5/3 to rcga@middlebury.edu.

Howard E. Woodin ES Colloquium Series. Robert Greeley, Visiting Instructor in Arabic at Middlebury, will discuss how protected areas have undergone a powerful and sustained social critique, however, very little of this it addresses biosphere reserves and only a small fraction addresses the zoning practices of biosphere reserves. This talk is based on months of interviews and participant observation with biosphere personnel, police, politicians, Shouf residents and hunters in the transition zone of the Shouf Biosphere reserve. Greeley will address the intersections of state and local agendas in creating environmental governance in and beyond the transition zone.

This talk will be given by David Sutton, who has authored three books and edited two on issues of food and culture, drawing extensively from his fieldwork in Greece. His work has focused on food and memory, as well as cooking and the senses, and food and economy, particularly its relationship to the politics of austerity. David teaches at Southern Illinois University.

This documentary focuses on Ziggy Gruber, who co-owns a large deli in Houston and is also the grandson of the original owner of the Rialto Deli, the first Kosher deli to open on Broadway in New York City in the 1920s. The deliis the main love in this man's life. While the film also covers other famous Jewish delis in Manhattan, Queens, Los Angeles and San Francisco and their histories, the emphasis is on the cultural aspects of the food and how the culture and the desire for this food is disappearing. There were once thousands of these delis and now there's fewer than 150 left in the entire U.S. Such luminaries as Larry King, Jerry Stiller, Fyvush Finkel, Freddie Roman and Alan Dershowitz as well as various deli owners express their love for the culture and the food. Co-sponsored by Middlebury College Hillel; the Departments of Film and Media, Sociology/Anthropology, and Jewish Studies; Havurah; and The Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life.

"A Small Good Thing" is a film about the next American dream to live a more wholehearted, connected life. The film asks whether we can change our larger goals as a nation and learn from the rest of the world about the small truths that are the sources of human happiness. Can our dreams serve as a conduit for the developing world’s financial well-being? The film explores how working in small but meaningful ways, we can overcome obstacles to happiness – the isolation of suburban comfort as well as the despair of poverty – to create joy for ourselves and others. There will be a Q & A afterwards with Bill McKibben and others from the film. Click here for more information.

Join the Green Panther Challenge this weekend to learn about proper waste sorting in an effort to reduce what we put in the landfill. Student athlete volunteers will educate and assist fans at Friday and Saturday's games.

Two ENVS majors will present their senior theses: Hannah Root: Teaching at the Top of a Mountain, Place-Based Learning with Cornwall Elementary Students. Jordan Collins:Moving Through Grief with Water, How Jewish Ritual Can Help Us Process Environmental Loss.

Professor of Food Studies Molly Anderson will introduce food justice as an entry point to the “Experiencing Food Systems” course. FoodWorks students at all summer sites (VT, DC, KY) will be visiting organizations to dig more deeply into food justice issues that affect those communities.

Join the students of the Brainerd Commons First-Year Seminar “Reading Jared Diamond” as they present their research projects. The posters respond to the issues of environmental history, the collapse of complex societies, and the value of traditional societies’ ecological knowledge.

Come out to see This Changes Everything, a 2015 film based on Naomi Klein's book on climate change and capitalism. Laurie Patton will be introducing the film. Free food!​ See the Facebook event, sponsored by the Sunday Night Group.

A talk by Jean Richardson, Chair of the National Organic Standards Board, Organic Inspector, and professor emerita at UVM. Dr. Richardson will discuss the true meaning of the organic label and how it is regulated, using your friendly organic granola bar as a case study. Sponsored by Middlebury College Organic Farm.

Join Bill McKibben, Schumann Distinguished Scholar, for an update from COP21 - 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Bill will be reporting live from Paris, to both Middlebury and Colby, providing a great opportunity to learn and ask questions about the unfolding climate talks. Sponsored by Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest.

Shua Group (NY/NJ) will present Black Igloo, an interactive installation that offers a metaphor for our relationship with environment. Come listen to the melting of an ice sculpture. Sponsored by the Programs in Environmental Studies, Dance, and the Museum of Art.

This large-scale, site-specific installation celebrates the passage of knowledge, experience and hope from one generation to another. By slowly criss-crossing colorful oversized ribbons within an expansive environment, the performers alter the color ...

Inspired by the popular storytelling phenomenon The Moth, Cocoon is a special evening of true stories told live and without notes. This year’s theme is “roots,” in honor of Middlebury’s 50th anniversary celebration of 50 years of Environmental Education ...

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who writes frequently about environmental science, Dan Fagin is also a science journalism professor at New York University. His book, Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation ...